Levi Michael McQueary

Floated the Huzzah from harpers slab to huzzah valley. The fishing was good. Caught tons of perch and lots of smallies. Water is crystal clear. Saw plenty of beds, but nobody was home. Caught a 16in, 12in, and 13in smallies and lots around 10in. Also a 13in spot. Only caught 2 goggle eye. I have no idea where they have gone to. Remember the bass season on the rivers opens on Saturday. Ran into people on the river and at the rental who had no idea there is a bass season. Very disturbing.

Floated the Meramec from Indian Springs to Hwy 19. The water was up, maybe just over a foot in clarity and really flowing. The fishing was ok. Longest stretch without a catch was about 45min to an hour. Caught plenty of bass. Mostly smallies and largies. A few spots here and there. Only three goggle eye. To my surprise did get a crappie. Tried the same area a bit more hoping to add on with no luck. Didn't catch as many perch as I thought I would. The quality was really good though. Big longears and good sized bluegills. I didn't see any beds yet. With the water being so cloudy maybe you just couldn't tell. The most of the bass and crappie were caught on an 1/8oz. Gray Minnow Rooster tail. The majority of the perch were caught using a 1/16oz. Yellow Rooster tail. Some on a yellow crickhopper but it was pretty much a non factor. The fish aren't quite "there" yet. However, they are really close.

Floated the Courtois from Blunts to Bass. Got in late around Noon. The water was probably the clearest that I have ever seen it. Also, a very good flow. Only took 4.5 hours to float the 6 miles with stops. The fishing wasn't good at all. Caught one longear and few suckers on Rooster tails. Tried rubber worms, rubber crawdad, crappie jig, curly tail and a crickhopper with no luck. Saw a few smallies but for the most part the river seemed empty. I'm thinking the water is just a few degrees too cold still.